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Learning takes a vacation in the Netherlands
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08/12/2009
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The Dordt College Concert Choir gave a stellar performance at the
Grote Kerk in Dordrecht, a church whose origins go back to the 11th
century. The next morning, the local newspaper, the Drechtsteden
Dichtibij, described their performance as
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The yearly Dordt alumni and friends \uc1\u8220?learning vacation\uc1\u8221?
took on international proportions last May with its first tour through
the Netherlands.
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\uc1\u8220?Other years, James Schaap and Robb De Haan have taken alumni
and friends on a tour of the Great Plains. We wanted to do something
similar,\uc1\u8221? said Professor Leendert van Beek, one of the tour
hosts. \uc1\u8220?Since the concert choir was going to be touring
the Netherlands in May, we created a tour that would link up with
that event.\uc1\u8221?
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That idea became \uc1\u8220?Spring Tour to the Netherlands,\uc1\u8221?
a May 11\_20 tour that took participants to eleven of the twelve Dutch
provinces. Witte Travel of Grand Rapids, Michigan, arranged the lodging
and transportation for the trip; Dordt history and foreign language
professors Hubert Krygsman and Leendert van Beek hosted, and forty\_three
individuals joined the tour.
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\uc1\u8220?We wanted to make this program special,\uc1\u8221? said
van Beek.
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To do this, van Beek created the tour program himself, basing it upon
the SPICE program and van Beek\uc1\u8217?s summer course, \uc1\u8220?GEN
253: Dutch Culture and Reformed Worldview,\uc1\u8221? which also takes
place in the Netherlands.
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\uc1\u8220?I shifted things around a bit as there was more of a time
constraint than there is with my class,\uc1\u8221? he said. \uc1\u8220?But
I tried to keep the majority of the program the same.\uc1\u8221?
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Every day had a theme, from \uc1\u8220?Bring me flowers from Amsterdam\uc1\u8221?
on May 12, which took the visitors to the Keukenhof National \'46lower
Exhibition, to \uc1\u8220?Things Royal\uc1\u8221? on May 15, which
explored the medieval city of Delft and the royal summer palace of
Het Loo.
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The group met the Dordt concert choir on May 14 when it performed
at the Grote Kerk in Dordtrecht.
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\uc1\u8220?We thought it an appropriate place to get together with
the This group of alumni and friends of Dordt College came from all
parts of the United States and Canada. The friendships made during
this trip was, for many, their most valuable souvenir.choir,\uc1\u8221?
said van Beek.\~ \uc1\u8220?Some of the visitors said that they got
the shivers when they were in that church because they could imagine
their ancestors worshiping there.\uc1\u8221?
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Worship was a trademark of the trip. The tour followed the history
of the Christian Reformed Church, visiting the church in Ulrum where
the CRC was first established. They also did a great deal of singing,
which people looked forward to.
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\uc1\u8220?We were once singing by the windmills of Kinderdyke, and
we had passersby stop and comment on how nice our voices sounded,\uc1\u8221?
said van Beek.\~
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\uc1\u8220?When you take a packaged trip, you just see the sights
and don\uc1\u8217?t get the cultural, social, or economic impact,\uc1\u8221?
said Dordt\uc1\u8217?s special events coordinator and tour planner
Dianne De Wit. \uc1\u8220?Our guests appreciated that it was much,
much more than a sightseeing tour.\uc1\u8221?
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Indeed, the alumni and friends were enthusiastic about the trip. One
commented that the trip was \uc1\u8220?the best we have ever experienced,\uc1\u8221?
while another pointed out that the tour was \uc1\u8220?a wonderful
mix of flowers, farms, museums, and churches.\uc1\u8221?
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\uc1\u8220?The combination of education, entertainment, and devotional
experiences offered our group a fine menu for a satisfying tour,\uc1\u8221?
said a participant.
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Tasha Daale, a senior at Dordt, went on the tour with her sister Rachel
and her grandmother Lucy. She enjoyed seeing Corrie Ten Boom\uc1\u8217?s
house in Haarlem and seeing a Gouda cheese farm.
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\uc1\u8220?Our tour guide, Norbert, made our sometimes long bus rides
entertaining,\uc1\u8221? said Daale. \uc1\u8220?He kept us all laughing
constantly through his wittiness [and] his jokes.\uc1\u8221?
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\uc1\u8220?We had such a great time,\uc1\u8221? Daale said. \uc1\u8220?I
think my sister and I would go back in a heartbeat.\uc1\u8221?
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The advancement office is planning to repeat the trip in the spring
of 2011.
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\qc\ul\f1\fs20\nocheck\lang1024 \~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~
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SARAH GRONECK
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